Gear Spotlight - SoundDevices MixPre6
The MixPre6 mounted under a camera, with all six inputs armed and ready to record.
When Jason Powers (of Jason Powers Audio) showed me the MixPre10 digital audio recorder, I was immediately intrigued. I’ve been wanting to upgrade my trusty Zoom H4n for a while, and knew of SoundDevices, having briefly borrowed one of their solid but expensive units many years ago. While still not exactly cheap, this new line of recorders is much more appealing - I found an open box MixPre6 and decided that 4 XLR inputs and a stereo 3.5mm input would give me plenty of flexibility.
I’ve been using it for a few months and there’s a lot that I like. For one, 32bit float recording is a revelation - it’s becoming much more common, but this is my first experience with it. Not having to worry about clipping takes a lot of the stress out of capturing unpredictable live audio such as theater or performance. The glowing knobs provide visual feedback for levels at a glance, important on a dark set. The menu system is easy to navigate - pressing the knob for inputs 1-4 brings you to the most relevant settings with a single click. And the ability to sandwich the recorder between tripod and camera makes for a compact set up, putting everything within reach.
In terms of sound design possibilities, I love that I can experiment with different types of microphones or array them in unusual ways, inside of resonating tubes or filtering spaces. I can record with contact mics and through-the-air mics simultaneously, mixing the results live - and/or recording individual tracks to process and mix later. The 192kHz sample rate allows for fascinating possibilities with pitch shifting recordings, slowing them to 50% or even lower while still retaining crispness and clarity of sound. I just ordered a pair of ultrasonic microphones from Sonorous Objects that can capture up to 70k (human hearing tops off at 20k or so). A whole straata of acoustic information will be available by shifting it down into audible range.
I don’t feel that I’ve yet been able to test the MixPre6 as a true field recorder, since I’m still dialing in my mobile set-up with a carrying case and a set of fuzzy wind protectors. In my first experiments last summer along the Yuba River, I was happy with the sound quality but surprised by the very short battery life (though maybe I could blame my off-brand batteries). For longer trips, an external power supply might be beneficial. I want to keep exploring - I can imagine playing with up to 6 microphones out in a quiet meadow or on a mountainside. The size and weight of the recorder are manageable, and it feels like it can take some wear and tear.
Just a few things I think could use improvement - the gain for the 5/6 input is buried under several menu clicks, not as intuitive as those nice front clicking knobs. Also, when using batteries, only 4 of the 6 inputs can be supplied with phantom power. Otherwise, I’m very pleased with the MixPre6’s overall ease of use and look forward to trying it out in new situations, environments and experiments.
